This year’s Caregiver Day at the Capitol, in partnership with California Alliance of Caregivers, was another incredible day of networking and advocacy with 80+ caregivers, providers, and advocates from across the state. Their voices carried our message throughout the Capitol and to our leaders within the administration.
It was such a privilege to have so many individuals who understand the true impact of these legislative changes stand up in support of children, youth and caregivers.
Current Legislative & Policy Priorities
Children are removed from their homes in a moment of crisis. The goal of the child welfare system is to connect them immediately to a loving and stable family placement. To make that connection, families need immediate and ongoing access to critical supports and services, including those that address the consequences of trauma and abuse. That is why this year, the Alliance continues to focus on a package of reforms to ensure placement stability for young people in foster care.
Specifically, these reforms aim to:
- protect children by creating a more timely, family-centered, and child-focused process to locate, return, and stabilize children and youth who go missing while in the care, custody, and control of the child welfare system. (download AB 273 fact sheet)
- allow more children to be placed with a non-relative extended family member (NREFM) or extended family member (EFM) by removing a barrier for tribes, NREFMs, and EFMs with a criminal history to be considered as a foster care placement for kin when it is safe for a child. (download SB 824 fact sheet)
Caregiver Day at the Capitol was a powerful reminder that we all have a role to play in supporting foster youth. By coming together, sharing caregivers’ stories, and advocating for change, we can create a better future for foster youth in California.
